7.  The applicant was born in 1934 and lives in Marsascala (Malta).
8.  On 13 June 1996 the applicant instituted proceedings against the Water Services Corporation, against the Director of the Drainage Department in the Ministry of the Environment and against the Minister of the Environment. He complained about the infiltration of foul liquid in several of his properties, allegedly due to the seepage of sewage from the Government drainage system and asked for compensation.
9.  Thirty-three hearings took place before the Civil Court. A number of witnesses were examined and an expert report was prepared. Thirteen hearings were adjourned by reason of the defendants’ absence.
10.  In a judgment of 5 July 2000, the Civil Court found in favour of the applicant. It held that the Minister of the Environment was not liable and declared that the two other defendants were responsible for the damage suffered by the applicant. It therefore awarded him 5,649.92 liri (Lm – approximately 13,559 euros, “EUR”) for damages and a sum for reimbursement of all the legal costs of the case.
11.  On 25 July 2000 the Water Services Corporation and the Director of the Drainage Department appealed against the judgment of 5 July 2000.
12.  On 31 July 2002 the applicant requested that his case be dealt with and decided within a short time.
13.  By a decree of 28 August 2002 the Court of Appeal ordered that the case be fixed for hearing according to law.
14.  On 15 October 2002, the hearing was fixed for 10 December 2002. An application for postponement presented by the Director of the Drainage Department on the ground of the absence of his lawyer was rejected.
15.  On 10 December 2002 the parties presented their pleadings and the case was left for judgment to be delivered on 25 April 2003.
16.  In a judgment of 8 May 2003, the Court of Appeal confirmed the first‑instance decision. Observing that the first court had correctly concluded that the applicant had summoned the Minister of the Environment without good reason, the Court of Appeal decided that the legal expenses incurred by the Minister should be borne by the applicant.
17.  Meanwhile, on 1 October 2002, the applicant had filed a constitutional complaint before the Civil Court (First Hall). He alleged that as the appeal against the judgment of 5 July 2000 had not been decided, his right to a hearing within a reasonable time, guaranteed by Article 6 § 1 of the Convention and by Article 39(1) of the Constitution of Malta, had been violated.
18.  By a judgment of 29 April 2003, the Civil Court upheld the applicant’s claim and awarded him compensation of Lm 500 (approximately EUR 1,200).
19.  The Civil Court noted that the delay in fixing the hearing before the Court of Appeal was due to the workload of the domestic courts. Now, the State had the duty of organising its judicial system in such a way that the courts could comply with the requirements established in Article 6 of the Convention.
20.  Moreover, according to Article 152(1) of Chapter 12 of the Laws of Malta, as in force at the relevant time, the Registrar had the duty to list an appeal for hearing not later than six months after the filing of the appeal. However, in the applicant’s case the date of the hearing had been fixed for 10 December 2002, and this had happened only after the applicant had filed two submissions in which he complained about the undue delay. As a principal rule of procedure had been breached and no fault could be imputed to the applicant, the Civil Court found a violation of the “reasonable time” requirement.
21.  In reaching this conclusion and in determining the amount to be granted as just satisfaction, the Civil Court took into account only the period after July 2000, as in his constitutional complaint the applicant had not referred to the duration of the first-instance proceedings.
22.  The Principal Registrar of the Courts of Justice, the Minister of Justice and the Local Government appealed against the judgment of 29 April 2003. They alleged that the failure to observe Article 152(1) of Chapter 12 of the Laws of Malta could not be considered tantamount to a violation of the “reasonable time” requirement and that the fixing of cases for particular dates did not depend on the Registrar. The defendants also complained about the amount of compensation they had been ordered to pay.
23.  In a judgment of 30 June 2003, the Constitutional Court upheld the appeal and annulled the impugned decision in so far as it had accepted the applicant’s claims.
24.  The Constitutional Court noted that the lack of observance of the six months period mentioned in the said Article 152(1) could not amount to a violation of Article 6 of the Convention. In fact, according to the Strasbourg case-law, a failure to comply with the time-limits set out in the domestic law did not in itself infringe the “reasonable time” requirement.
25.  The Constitutional Court further observed that the applicant was complaining about the delay between the date on which the appeal was filed (25 July 2000) and the date of the first hearing before the competent court (10 December 2002). An overall period of less than two years and five months was at stake. Taking into account the number of duties that the Court of Appeal had to accomplish, such delay could not be considered excessive. It was true that the State was obliged to organise its judicial system in a way that all the guarantees afforded by Article 6 of the Convention were respected; however, regard must be had to all the circumstances of the case, and to the remedial actions undertaken by the authorities in order to cope with a temporary backlog of business affecting the domestic courts.
26.  In the Constitutional Court’s view, the applicant’s case was not an easy one. It took more than four years to decide at first instance. The applicant was not complaining about this first delay, which was in any case justified by the number of witnesses heard, by the volume of documents and notes submitted to the judge and by the factual and technical difficulties encountered by the expert. Moreover, there did not exist any special reason to treat the appeal with urgency and it was necessary to consider that in 2002 the Court of Appeal had faced abnormal problems, as its President had changed twice within a few months. Notwithstanding this, when the applicant requested that his case be decided within a short time, the Court of Appeal fixed the hearing for 10 December 2002 and rejected a request for postponement presented by the Director of the Drainage Department.